A Year of Horse Books: The Spell and Spirit of the Horse by Pam Billinge - reviewed by Katherine Roberts
This month I'm reading some non-fiction aimed at adult readers: The Spell of the Horse and its sequel The Spirit of the Horse. The author Pam Billinge offers Equine Assisted Therapy with her small herd of horses and ponies, which together with the associated Equine Assisted Learning are becoming more popular in the UK as beneficial therapies. Simply being around horses, it seems, works wonders for people, and with the guidance of a trained facilitator time spent with the herd can be as powerful as any conventional medicine. These two books combine Pam's personal equine journey with selected case studies (names and details changed to protect clients) to make an interesting and digestible read.
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| The Spell of the Horse |
The Spell of the Horse begins with Pam bonding with a mare called Carabella on a riding holiday in Spain, and noticing how her own horse reacted when her mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer. As the book progresses, we meet the various equines that have accompanied the author on her journey, including a horse called Coop she lived alongside for two months on an intensive natural horsemanship course in Colorado. The final chapter closes with Pam scattering her mother's and stepfather's ashes according to their wishes on a Spanish mountainside, serendipitously near to where she met her first heart horse.
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| The Spirit of the Horse |
The Spirit of the Horse picks up where the first book left off and follows the same readable format, charting the growth of Pam's business, at first in Wiltshire and then making the move to France in search of a perfect horse-human environment. As well as fascinating glimpses into how equine therapy has helped the people who meet Pam and her horses, you really get a sense of the author's personal journey and professional development as she works with them. These books should appeal to those interested in alternative therapies as well as anyone who loves horses, and have a special place on my bookshelf.
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Katherine Roberts writes fantasy and historical fiction for young readers, often involving horses or their magical cousins such as unicorns. In her novel I am the Great Horse, she imagines Alexander the Great telling his faithful horse Bucephalas all his problems during quieter moments on campaign. You can read the opening chapters Prince of Macedonia free for epub, or listen to them as a low cost (virtual voice) audiobook.
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| Prince of Macedonia - free ebook audiobook |
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| I am the Great Horse |
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